Marines and aliens never seem to get along, do they? If they aren’t playing deadly cat-and-mouse games in dark, industrialized corridors they’re ripping each other apart with chainsaw bayonets. Or in Cosmic Conquest’s case, they send eave after wave of fodder at each other in a bid to overrun bases.

As with many finger-dragging base capturing strategy games, Cosmic Conquest is all about numbers. The more units sent after a base, and the fewer units occupying said base the easier it will be to capture. However, rather than simply having to shuffle soldiers around a map, players will also have to make use of limited special abilities and structures. Calling down a rocket barrage a the right time or taking control of a key tower on a map is what’s really important. So much so the game kind of beats it into players fairly early on.

Cosmic Conquest is in many ways similar to most other strategy games of its kind, but there are a number of small differences that add up to make it a little bit more. I’m not sure if any other games have allowed players to drag a finger over each of their bases in order to send out units from all of them at once, but even if they do it’s handled incredibly well here. Another interesting set of additions is the boss battles, which pit players against a large alien-spawning menace that has to be carefully taken out while they protect their own bases. I also really like the addition of special structures that can turn the tide of a battle; structures like towers with double the maximum unit count or stationary guns that will obliterate enemies that get too close.

Despite my appreciation for Cosmic Conquest’s way of mixing things up, I’m not entirely sold on some of its scenarios. I understand the need to get players used to actual tactics like waiting to grab a weakened enemy base rather than scrambling to claim neutral ones, but they ramp up awfully fast. After only a handful of levels things were already starting to feel insurmountable, and after the second or third planet they can be downright frustrating.

However, overcoming Cosmic Conquest’s seemingly unbalanced challenges is definitely possible and feels incredibly satisfying. Of course players need to be patient enough to stick with it in the first place. Assuming they are, then they should have plenty of fun fighting against overwhelming odds and putting those uppity aliens in their place.

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